Benjamin Lewis (bef 1735-aft 1767) of Johnston, Dobbs, Glasgow and Greene Co., NC

Marty and Karla Grant

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[Lewis Home] - [Table of Contents] - Benjamin Lewis

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Visit my Benjamin Lewis Differentiation page for a list of the various men named Benjamin Lewis in eastern NC. This should help sort them out.

This Benjamin Lewis *might* be my 6 times great uncle if he’s a brother to my Jacob Lewis as I suspect, but can’t prove.

Benjamin Lewis was born before ca 1735, assuming he was at least 21 when he entered land in 1756.

It is possible that this is the same Benjamin Lewis (bef 1719-aft 1748) who is a proven son of Richard Lewis of Chowan Co., NC. I have no data yet to prove they are the same person, nor to disprove it. I think it more likely he’s not that same Benjamin, but I could be wrong. I suspect he’s a brother of my Jacob Lewis (c1729-c1796) primarily because they lived in the very same area, and my Jacob named one his sons Benjamin, presumably in honor of this one. That isn’t overwhelming evidence, but it helps.

If I’m correct about him being a brother of my Jacob, then Benjamin is a son of Isaac Lewis and Margaret Hooker of Bertie Co., NC. I have zero evidence linking Benjamin to them, or to Bertie County for that matter. I’m basing this entirely on him being with my Jacob for a period in what is now Greene Co., NC.

If Benjamin is a child of Isaac, as I suspect, then he was born in what was then Bertie Co., NC but now is Hertford Co., NC. I found no records of Benjamin Lewis in Bertie. There is a Benjamin there in 1738 and 1748, but that is Benjamin (bef 1719-aft 1748) of Chowan, son of Richard as proven by other records. That Benjamin was residing in Tyrrell Co., NC by 1748. I’m not sure where he was after that, though I found a Benjamin in Beaufort Co., NC in the 1750s and Craven Co., NC in the early 1760s. I *think* those records are the same Benjamin of Chowan, but I could be wrong. See his page for more information on him.

On 12 Mar 1756, Benjamin Lewis entered land in Johnston Co., NC, being 400 acres joining Micajah Rice, Henry Edmonds and Jonas Moone (or Moore) and William Meares. This land was in the section of Johnston that shortly (1758) became Dobbs Co., NC. This section became Glasgow Co., NC in 1791, and Greene Co., NC in 1799. There was no survey in the land grant file, nor any indication that the land was actually granted to Benjamin Lewis.

On 25 May 1757, Benjamin Lewis was granted 336 acres in Johnston Co., NC on the north side of Great Contentnea Creek. The survey was dated 17 Aug 1756 and mentions Micajah Rice’s corner, Henry Edmonds corner. Samuel Edmonds and Joseph Lewis were chain bearers.

The 336 acres must have bordered his 400 acres since some of the same neighbors are listed.

The area in question became Dobbs County in 1758. Unfortunately for researchers, almost all the Dobbs County records were destroyed thanks to three court house fires in the late 1800s.

Some early deed book indexes survive, but not the deeds themselves. For example, Benjamin Lewis made a deed to Samuel Edmonds that was filed between 1757 and 1758. (Dobbs Co., NC Deed Book 5, p. 6, Index Entry only.)

The above deed could have been his 400 or 336 acre tract, or some other land he may have acquired via deed. Samuel Edmonds was one of his neighbors per his 1757 land grant.

On 9 Sep 1767, Benjamin Lewis made a deed to Micajah Rice (another neighbor). (Dobbs Co., NC Deed Book 7, p. 145, Index entry only.)

The above is probably the other tract, either 400 or 336 acres, from his land grants.

This is also the last record I found for Benjamin Lewis in Dobbs, or rather, the few records that survive for Dobbs.

There is a 1769 tax list for Dobbs County that seems rather complete, but Benjamin Lewis was not listed on it suggesting he’d moved away or died between 1767 and 1769.

There were two other men named Benjamin Lewis who might appear in the records, though neither came of age until well after this Benjamin last appeared on any records there. One was Benjamin Lewis (bef 1755-aft 1820) a son of Jacob, who probably came of age in the 1770s. He moved away by 1785. The other was Benjamin Lewis (1755/58-1821) whose parents are not yet known. He was born in SC and his parents died while he was very young and he eventually was “taken” to this area, settling in the part of Dobbs that became Lenoir County. This isn’t too far from where the other Lewises were, so this is either a major coincidence or he is related somehow. However, he isn’t to be confused with this older Benjamin as their time in Dobbs didn’t appear to overlap at all, or perhaps if it did, it was only a few short years.

There is a Benjamin Lewis who appears briefly in Duplin and Sampson County records in the late 1750s. I don’t know which Benjamin that was. It could be this one, but if so, he was in that area at the same time he appeared in Dobbs records. It could be him though.

As of now I have no further data on Benjamin Lewis (bef 1735-aft 1767).

Children

I have no evidence for any children for Benjamin Lewis yet.

For Family Group Sheet and other notes see my database pages for Benjamin Lewis.

Revised: May 12, 2026

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